Dr Stefan Broselid, Founder and Scientific Lead of ECS Restore, has filed a patent application for a non-cannabinoid formulation designed to treat dysfunction in the endocannabinoid system (ECS), moving his research from scientific hypothesis towards a meaningful commercial proposition.
The concept behind Dr Broselid’s new formulation is simple and could transform the way patients, prescribers and medical professionals approach cannabis medicine. To limit its implications to cannabis-based medicines, however, is to understate the scope of its potential implementation.
Despite this potential, the biological systems it hopes to illuminate remain severely under-researched and poorly understood, something ECS Restore hopes it can change.
It centres around the endocannabinoid system (the eponymous ECS), a system which Dr Broselid explained to Business of Cannabis last year is ‘foundational to human physiology’, playing a ‘regulatory role in virtually every major system in the body’.
Broselid believes a convergence of recent discoveries is beginning to change how the ECS should be viewed. For decades researchers recognised that endocannabinoids are synthesised from membrane lipid substrates, making dietary fat quality an important determinant of signalling potential.
Emerging work now suggests that metabolic signals such as insulin may also regulate CB1 Medical receptor abundance. If these mechanisms prove to operate across insulin-sensitive tissues, the ECS may be better understood as a nutrient-responsive adaptive system than simply the biological target of cannabinoids.
Earlier this year, we reported on the core concept behind Dr Broselid’s work, which he is now in the process of securing a comprehensive patent for.
Boiling it down to an explanation accessible to those without a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology, he used the example of increased tolerance to cannabis medications among the patient community.
PET neuroimaging studies have shown that chronic daily cannabis users display approximately 20% lower CB1 receptor availability compared to non-users. Recovery follows a clear curve, seeing initial reversal within 48 hours and a return to baseline within roughly 28 days.
Without accessible tools for measuring this dynamic, medical cannabis patients have no objective way of knowing where they sit on that curve. As such, most respond by increasing their dose, unaware of whether they are over- or under-shooting levels that are effective and safe.
Currently, there is no practical clinical method for assessing CB1 functional state. Broselid is developing a non-invasive physiological biomarker designed to infer changes in CB1-associated physiological function, an approach that will require formal validation.
“Medicine advances when biology becomes measurable,” Dr Broselid told Business of Cannabis. “We can measure glucose metabolism, cardiovascular fitness and inflammatory markers, but we lack practical tools for understanding functional ECS state.”
CB1, the cannabinoid receptor at the centre of Broselid’s work, participates in signalling networks involved in metabolism, stress responses, recovery and adaptation, yet no clinical test currently reports its function the way an HbA1c reading reports blood glucose.
Rather than measuring the receptor directly, Broselid is developing what he calls a physiological fingerprint.
“The hypothesis is not that we directly measure the receptor,” he said, “but that we identify a downstream physiological fingerprint that changes in parallel with known CB1 adaptation biology.”
The initial biomarker hypothesis emerged from a longitudinal self-experiment that contrasted a physiological state associated with chronic high-dose THC exposure with a recovery trajectory during dose reduction and washout, benchmarked against a CB1-intact control.
Now, ESC Restore is advancing this research towards a business framework. He has now submitted a patent for his formulation aimed at supporting the biological environment around ECS signalling rather than pushing a single receptor target harder.
“The initial patent application includes exploratory supporting data from several physiological contexts, including neurodevelopmental, autonomic and pain-related observations.”
Meanwhile, Dr Broselid is developing what he calls a longitudinal adaptive-physiology platform. Rather than measuring isolated biomarkers, the platform follows longitudinal physiological trajectories, asking whether adaptive capacity is improving, stable or declining over time. The long-term vision is a feedback platform linking biological environment, ECS-associated physiology and personalised optimisation.. This platform is what he hopes to position as the longer-term commercial product for ECS Restore beyond the patented formulation alone.
Clinical Research ‘You Can’t Treat What You Can’t Measure’ – The Plan to Make the Endocannabinoid System Impossible to Ignore Across global cannabis markets, the average levels of THC content are continuing a sustained, exponential and well-documented rise. Data from the University of Mississippi’s 2024 Potency Monitoring Program shows average […]
Read the Story →
Broselid argues that the future of cannabinoid medicine lies not simply in developing better cannabinoids, but in understanding the physiological system those cannabinoids interact with. His long-term vision is to move from cannabinoid pharmacology towards ECS systems biology, where measurement, biological context and targeted interventions work together to personalise treatment while preserving the adaptive capacity of the endocannabinoid system.
Broselid’s non-cannabinoid formulation is, he said, currently easier to pursue in the US than in the European Union, and US cannabinoid rescheduling has thrown the door open for the kind of research ECS Restore depends on.
He also pointed to a consumer segment forming where cannabis normalisation meets the personalised health market.
“You get an interesting segment of people that are interested in optimising their own health,” he explained. “They’re willing to pay for it, and they’re cannabis-intentional. They have no intention to stop. They like to use it, but they don’t want it to compromise their resilience.”
The patent gives Broselid room to decide which regions to pursue through a forthcoming Patent Cooperation Treaty filing and to treat the intellectual property as an asset ahead of forming a company.
Dr Broselid says he is already in conversations with potential partners, investors and co-founders and is planning a three-month pilot study with collaborators in the US to validate his hypothesis in additional patients.
“Building a category-defining company, which is what I’m aiming for, requires the right operational partner who can help with commercial strategy, partnerships, capital, regulatory pathways and, most importantly, opportunity selection, because there’s quite a wide range of options opening up.”
Rather than rushing to commercialise a single product, Broselid says his goal is to establish the scientific foundation first and identify a co-founder capable of building a new category around adaptive physiology.
Where and when ECS Restore ultimately targets for its initial product development will likely depend on his first investment partner and the outcome of his patent application.
For the first time in the industry’s history, the route to conducting research into cannabis and the ECS is now relatively clear. More importantly, however, it is in increasing demand.
The post The Company That Wants to Make the Endocannabinoid System as Measurable as Blood Sugar appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
The concept behind Dr Broselid’s new formulation is simple and could transform the way patients, prescribers and medical professionals approach cannabis medicine. To limit its implications to cannabis-based medicines, however, is to understate the scope of its potential implementation.
Despite this potential, the biological systems it hopes to illuminate remain severely under-researched and poorly understood, something ECS Restore hopes it can change.
It centres around the endocannabinoid system (the eponymous ECS), a system which Dr Broselid explained to Business of Cannabis last year is ‘foundational to human physiology’, playing a ‘regulatory role in virtually every major system in the body’.
Measuring the ECS
Broselid believes a convergence of recent discoveries is beginning to change how the ECS should be viewed. For decades researchers recognised that endocannabinoids are synthesised from membrane lipid substrates, making dietary fat quality an important determinant of signalling potential.
Emerging work now suggests that metabolic signals such as insulin may also regulate CB1 Medical receptor abundance. If these mechanisms prove to operate across insulin-sensitive tissues, the ECS may be better understood as a nutrient-responsive adaptive system than simply the biological target of cannabinoids.
Earlier this year, we reported on the core concept behind Dr Broselid’s work, which he is now in the process of securing a comprehensive patent for.
Boiling it down to an explanation accessible to those without a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology, he used the example of increased tolerance to cannabis medications among the patient community.
PET neuroimaging studies have shown that chronic daily cannabis users display approximately 20% lower CB1 receptor availability compared to non-users. Recovery follows a clear curve, seeing initial reversal within 48 hours and a return to baseline within roughly 28 days.
Without accessible tools for measuring this dynamic, medical cannabis patients have no objective way of knowing where they sit on that curve. As such, most respond by increasing their dose, unaware of whether they are over- or under-shooting levels that are effective and safe.
Currently, there is no practical clinical method for assessing CB1 functional state. Broselid is developing a non-invasive physiological biomarker designed to infer changes in CB1-associated physiological function, an approach that will require formal validation.
“Medicine advances when biology becomes measurable,” Dr Broselid told Business of Cannabis. “We can measure glucose metabolism, cardiovascular fitness and inflammatory markers, but we lack practical tools for understanding functional ECS state.”
CB1, the cannabinoid receptor at the centre of Broselid’s work, participates in signalling networks involved in metabolism, stress responses, recovery and adaptation, yet no clinical test currently reports its function the way an HbA1c reading reports blood glucose.
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Patent pending
Rather than measuring the receptor directly, Broselid is developing what he calls a physiological fingerprint.
“The hypothesis is not that we directly measure the receptor,” he said, “but that we identify a downstream physiological fingerprint that changes in parallel with known CB1 adaptation biology.”
The initial biomarker hypothesis emerged from a longitudinal self-experiment that contrasted a physiological state associated with chronic high-dose THC exposure with a recovery trajectory during dose reduction and washout, benchmarked against a CB1-intact control.
Now, ESC Restore is advancing this research towards a business framework. He has now submitted a patent for his formulation aimed at supporting the biological environment around ECS signalling rather than pushing a single receptor target harder.
“The initial patent application includes exploratory supporting data from several physiological contexts, including neurodevelopmental, autonomic and pain-related observations.”
Meanwhile, Dr Broselid is developing what he calls a longitudinal adaptive-physiology platform. Rather than measuring isolated biomarkers, the platform follows longitudinal physiological trajectories, asking whether adaptive capacity is improving, stable or declining over time. The long-term vision is a feedback platform linking biological environment, ECS-associated physiology and personalised optimisation.. This platform is what he hopes to position as the longer-term commercial product for ECS Restore beyond the patented formulation alone.
Clinical Research ‘You Can’t Treat What You Can’t Measure’ – The Plan to Make the Endocannabinoid System Impossible to Ignore Across global cannabis markets, the average levels of THC content are continuing a sustained, exponential and well-documented rise. Data from the University of Mississippi’s 2024 Potency Monitoring Program shows average […]
Read the Story →
Broselid argues that the future of cannabinoid medicine lies not simply in developing better cannabinoids, but in understanding the physiological system those cannabinoids interact with. His long-term vision is to move from cannabinoid pharmacology towards ECS systems biology, where measurement, biological context and targeted interventions work together to personalise treatment while preserving the adaptive capacity of the endocannabinoid system.
Broselid’s non-cannabinoid formulation is, he said, currently easier to pursue in the US than in the European Union, and US cannabinoid rescheduling has thrown the door open for the kind of research ECS Restore depends on.
He also pointed to a consumer segment forming where cannabis normalisation meets the personalised health market.
“You get an interesting segment of people that are interested in optimising their own health,” he explained. “They’re willing to pay for it, and they’re cannabis-intentional. They have no intention to stop. They like to use it, but they don’t want it to compromise their resilience.”
The patent gives Broselid room to decide which regions to pursue through a forthcoming Patent Cooperation Treaty filing and to treat the intellectual property as an asset ahead of forming a company.
Next steps
Dr Broselid says he is already in conversations with potential partners, investors and co-founders and is planning a three-month pilot study with collaborators in the US to validate his hypothesis in additional patients.
“Building a category-defining company, which is what I’m aiming for, requires the right operational partner who can help with commercial strategy, partnerships, capital, regulatory pathways and, most importantly, opportunity selection, because there’s quite a wide range of options opening up.”
Rather than rushing to commercialise a single product, Broselid says his goal is to establish the scientific foundation first and identify a co-founder capable of building a new category around adaptive physiology.
Where and when ECS Restore ultimately targets for its initial product development will likely depend on his first investment partner and the outcome of his patent application.
For the first time in the industry’s history, the route to conducting research into cannabis and the ECS is now relatively clear. More importantly, however, it is in increasing demand.
The post The Company That Wants to Make the Endocannabinoid System as Measurable as Blood Sugar appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
